Lecture 7 - Ontogeny of Cognition

What does ontogeny refer to?

Ontogeny describes the full developmental course of an organism from fertilization to death, including physical, behavioral and cognitive changes over the lifespan.

What is meant by “ontogeny of behavior” and why is studying behavioral development important?

1. It is the study of how an individual's behavior develops across life, shaped by both genetic inheritance and environmental influences such as social context, stress exposure and parental care.

2. It helps us understand how genes and environment interact, reveals how early experiences shape long-term outcomes and clarifies the mechanisms and evolutionary origins of behavior.

How can early environment shape later behavior?

Early parental care, such as licking and grooming in rodents, can “program” offspring behavior, influencing stress responses and caregiving styles in adulthood.

How do song learning and migration illustrate behavioral development?

Young birds learn song through a sensory phase (memorizing tutor song) and a sensorimotor phase (practicing it).
Bird migration combines innate orientation mechanisms with learning and refinement over time; older birds take more direct, efficient routes, while juveniles explore more before optimizing their strategy.

What is the ontogeny of cognition and what questions does it address?

Ontogeny of cognition is the development of cognitive abilities shaped by brain maturation, individual experience and evolutionary history.

Key questions include:
• How cognition changes with age
• Critical periods for normal development
• Whether cognitive skills develop independently
• Cross-species comparisons to understand cognitive evolution

How does cognitive development progress in dogs, and how do breed differences play a role?

Dog cognition increases in early life, peaks in midlife, and declines in old age. Larger breeds have shorter lifespans but follow similar cognitive aging trajectories; they often die before major decline occurs (truncation hypothesis). Cognitive aging may be partially independent from physical aging.

What is the difference between the truncation and compression hypotheses?

• Truncation: All breeds share similar cognitive aging trajectories; large dogs simply die before experiencing full decline.

• Compression: Larger breeds age cognitively faster.

Data supports the truncation hypothesis. Suggest that all dog breeds, regardless of average breed lifespan or rate of  physiological aging, exhibit similar cognitive aging trajectories such that larger dogs may experience a limited cognitive decline at the end of their shorter lives.

What are critical/sensitive periods, and what are examples?

They are developmental windows during which specific experiences must occur for normal cognitive or sensory development.
Examples:
• Bird imprinting (first 24–48 hours)
• Song learning windows in songbirds
• Normal visual input needed in kittens
• Early whisker stimulation needed in mice for touch processing

How does brain plasticity change with age, and what environmental factors influence it?

Plasticity is highest in youth but persists throughout life.
Environmental enrichment increases dendritic growth and enhances cognition, while experiments show young blood can reverse certain molecular and cognitive signs of aging in mice.

What do cross-species comparisons reveal about cognition?

Great apes and humans follow similar sensorimotor trajectories but at different speeds, reflecting shared ancestry and divergent evolution.
Jackdaws reach advanced object permanence levels rapidly, showing that complex cognition can evolve independently in very different brain structures.

What can we learn from studying the ontogeny of behavior?

We can understand how physical development (e.g., brain and endocrine systems) interacts with behavior, and how environmental factors such as parental care and early-life stress shape long-term behavioral outcomes.

What are Tinbergen’s four questions, and how do they help us understand animal behavior?

Tinbergen’s framework explains behavior by addressing four complementary levels of analysis:

1. Mechanism (Causation)
How does this behavior occur in an individual?
Focuses on immediate causes such as physiology, hormones, neural systems and stimuli.

2. Ontogeny (Development)
How does this behavior arise in an individual?
Examines how behavior develops over the lifespan, including learning, maturation and early experiences.

3. Adaptive Value (Function)
Why is this behavior adaptive for the species?
Explores how the behavior improves survival or reproductive success.

4. Phylogeny (Evolution)
How did this behavior evolve in the species?
Looks at the evolutionary history of the behavior and how it compares across related species.